


Because You're My Everything (Stucky AU)

by dramioneforce



Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Jealousy, Love, M/M, Other, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24856369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dramioneforce/pseuds/dramioneforce
Summary: Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes went through everything together, even when it wasn't easy. But what if their fates were switched? SHIELD recovers Bucky Barnes, while Hydra finds Steve. Unfortunately, Hydra intends to brainwash Steve and develop him into some sort of weapon. Bucky enlists the help of his new friend Sam as he dares to take on a number of Hydra agents and rescue Captain America. Will Bucky be able to stop them and get his best friend back? Or will someone else get to Steve first?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Arnim Zola, James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Nick Fury, James "Bucky" Barnes & Peggy Carter, James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov & Sam Wilson, Nick Fury & Sam Wilson, Peggy Carter & Howard Stark, Peggy Carter & Steve Rogers, Rachel Leighton/Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson & Arnim Zola, Steve Rogers & Arnim Zola, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	Because You're My Everything (Stucky AU)

𝕤𝕖𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝟚𝟘𝟙𝟜, 𝕒 𝕗𝕖𝕨 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖  𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒: 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕣

[ 𝕗𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 ] 

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes stood next to their group of soldiers known as the howling commandos, on a snowy cliff below a railroad on the side of a mountain. A single zip line connected the death defying gap in between the cliff and the railroad track. Rogers was dressed as Captain America, and Barnes was a navy blue uniform, with brown cargo pants and boots. The howling commandos used their equipment that they had set out on the small cliff, as if they were trying to track something down. From the scene, it seemed like it had to be a train. Steve and Bucky stood next to each other, and looked out to the view that stood before them. 

“Remember when I made you ride that cyclone at Coney Island?” Bucky recalled and smiled to himself. 

“Yeah and I threw up?” Steve answered, embarrassed. 

Bucky studied the railroad track before them and the zipline that connected down to it. Steve did the same, and looked behind at the howling commandos, still working hard to find the train. 

“This isn’t payback is it?” Bucky asked. 

“Now why would I do that?” Steve smiled. 

A howling commando called Steve and got his attention. 

“You were right. Doctor Zola’s on the train.” 

The train arrived. Steve looked at Bucky before he grabbed onto the zipline and slid down until he was on the very top of the train. He carefully jumped down. He looked behind him, and Bucky was there. Later, a fight started on the train. Steve and Bucky were fighting a man covered head to toe in black clothing and holding two advanced machine guns. Something out of its gun managed to blow the side of the train car to bits. There was a gaping hole leading outside. The man fought Steve until he fell to the ground. Bucky looked at Steve, worried, and then looked to the man. He started to shoot it, and grabbed Steve’s shield on the ground. The man shot him and the movement of the train pushed Bucky out to the hole in the side of the train. Steve stood up and Bucky managed to grab on to a rail on the outside of the train, clutching it for dear life. Steve saw Bucky outside and positioned himself to try and reach him. 

“BUCKY!” Steve yelled. 

Bucky groaned and Steve reached out his hand. 

“Grab my hand!” 

Bucky slowly lifted himself up and reached out his hand to try and touch Steve’s. It felt like an eternity. Hold on, reach, inch by inch, don’t fall, reach. The railing that Bucky was holding on to started to lose its strength. Steve grabbed it with the hand he held out and stopped it from falling any further. He used his other hand to quickly take Bucky’s. Bucky grabbed Steve’s other hand and let go of the railing. Steve pulled him back up onto the train. Bucky sat against the wall next to Steve. 

“You saved my life,” Bucky was breathing heavily. 

“I can’t lose you, Buck,” Steve smiled. 

They looked down, realizing that they were still holding hands. They looked up at each other. After a huge fight between Steve and Red Skull, Steve took control of the flying plane. Bucky was watching him carefully and sitting in a seat diagonally behind him. Steve pressed a few buttons and Bucky held on tightly to the arm rests on his seat, looking down. 

“Come in! This is Captain Rogers. Do you read me,” Steve called hoping for an answer. 

“Steve, is that you? Are you alright?” a familiar voice answered. 

“Peggy…” Steve sighed.

“Give me your coordinates and we’ll find you a safe landing site.” 

“I have Sergeant Barnes with me,” Steve looked at Bucky, who nodded, “but it won’t be a safe landing. I can try and force it down.” 

“I can get Howard on the line and he’ll know what to do,” Peggy answered, sounding very concerned. 

“There’s not enough time. This thing is moving too fast and it’s heading for New York. I’ve got to put her in the water. If I wait any longer a lot of people are gonna die.” 

There was no response from Peggy.    
  


“Peggy, this is my choice. I’m sorry.” 

“... Steve,” Peggy whispered. 

Steve pressed a few buttons and Peggy wasn’t able to hear him anymore. Steve looked back at Bucky. Bucky was looking down until he noticed Steve. 

“Steve, I-” Bucky stammered. 

“It’s ok, Buck. We’ll do this together.” 

“‘Til the end of the line?”

“‘Til the end of the line.” 

They smiled at each other. Steve took a deep breath and pushed the wheel of the plane forward. 

[𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥]

Bucky was sitting at a table holding a white mug and staring off into space, looking down at the surface of the table. He sighed. It was a small room, with the walls painted blue and a few windows. Bucky was wearing a grey hoodie, with one of the sleeves ripped off so his metal arm was visible. He started to see and hear memories from long ago. 

“BUCKY!” 

“You’re a punk.”

“Jerk.” 

“I can’t lose you, Buck.” 

“Thank you, Buck. But I can get by on my own.” 

“The thing is, you don’t have to. I’m with you ‘til the end of the line, pal.” 

“Bucky.” 

“Hello?” 

“Hey! Buck! You there?” 

Bucky snapped out of his stance and looked up. Sam Wilson was standing before him. He sighed. 

“You’ve gotta stop thinking about him. You have to move on. It’s been too long.” 

Bucky didn’t respond. He sighed and leaned forward. He placed the mug he was holding on the table in front of him, his arm colliding with the edge of the table. He leaned back into the chair and looked down. 

“Hey. It’ll be ok. Come on.” 

Sam held up car keys and threw them towards Bucky. They slid across the surface of the table. Bucky looked at the keys and after a moment, he grabbed them and stood up to follow Sam out of the door. Moments later, Bucky and Sam were in a car, Bucky in the driver's seat. They were not saying anything to each other. Sam lazily sat up and pressed a button in front of him. A hip hop song started playing and Sam tapped his finger against the window to the beat. Bucky glanced over at the button and then pushed another. An alternative song started to play and Bucky smiled. Sam glared at Bucky, and then pressed the button to turn back on his hip hop song. Bucky looked back at Sam and turned back on his alternative song. They pushed the buttons faster and faster until Bucky turned off the radio with a single button. He focused on the road. Sam turned away from Bucky and looked out his window. The outside of the window was now visible, with the United States capitol building in the distance. The two boys were obviously in Washington DC. Sam lifted the sleeve on his shirt to reveal a technical watch on his left arm. He touched it and it beeped. 

“Mission, find coffee,” Sam teased. 

Bucky laughed, “right,” he paused, “after.” 

There was more silence as Bucky drove the car down the road. 

“Here,” Sam pointed to the right.    
  


The full car was now visible, a black van, pulling into an unpaved road covered in gravel. Bucky and Sam were inside shaking as the car rode along the bumps of the gravel. 

“It should be right up here,” Sam looked at his watch. 

The car approached a grey, metal building and parked in front of it. Bucky and Sam stepped out of the car and walked to the trunk. Bucky opened it, and it was empty, except for a small button. He pushed it, and the trunk bed rose to reveal Sam’s suit and Bucky’s guns. It was hidden for this reason. The two suited up, and walked towards a large and heavy looking metal door. 

Bucky turned to Sam, “Alright. Get in, and get out. That’s all we’re doing. No stealing anything of any kind. These guys are god awful.” 

“You got it.” 

They walked up to the door, Sam ready to kick it down, until Bucky stopped him. He knew it would cause commotion, and they should try and cause as little commotion as possible. Bucky slowly approaches the door, and turns the doorknob. The door opens.  _ What?  _

“Unlocked. That shouldn’t…” Bucky trails off. 

“Let’s go.” 

Sam tightened his flight suit, while knowing that he couldn’t fly indoors. They snuck in, ready to encounter any sort of bad shooter around the corner. It was a dark hallway, but very dimly lit, so they could barely see as they walked. Towards the right and left were small rooms that looked like old and empty offices that hadn’t been used in a few years. It appeared abandoned, which meant that this place had to be a base of some sort. Suddenly, they heard voices. They saw two hallways following the empty offices leading to the left and the right. Although the voices were coming from straight ahead. Sam and Bucky nodded at each other. They looked left and right down the hallways to check for clearance, and then split up to hide behind the walls. They had their guns at the ready. With this, they listened in to try and decipher the voices. 

“Someone opened the door. Where is she?” one man shouted. 

“I have no idea where she is. We never know where she is when these things happen. It's always the same-” 

A man was answering the shouting man until he was cut off, because Bucky and Sam shot the two men. They fell to the ground with a smack. Bucky slowly crept out to the two bodies. He crouched to search them. 

“Coms, guns, and masks. What’s this about?” Bucky whispered to Sam. 

“I don’t know. But I don’t think we’re alone yet.” 

They tried to continue on without being seen. As they passed the very few lights that were turned on to light up the hallway, Bucky’s metal arm shone and sparkled. It was visible. He slowly straightened out his right arm and stopped Sam from going any further. Sam looked at him, puzzled. Silence. 

“Get down!!” 

All at once there were shots firing, grenades thrown, and men running to and fro shooting at each other. Bucky and Sam ran around shooting the men covered head to toe in black, trying not to be shot. Bucky used his skills in punching and Sam shot his guns and used his skills in defense. The two were both fighting off three men. Slowly, they began to move in closer. Closer. They were suddenly almost back to back. Bucky kept punching until he got out his gun and shot. Two men down, one to go. Sam punched and kicked and did the same until all three of the men he fought were down. Sam turned around late and Bucky tackled Sam to get him on the ground because just then, the last man threw a grenade towards the wall. The wall blew to shreds to reveal a large room with scaffolding lining the walls and crates on the very bottom. Sam and Bucky separated and fell to the floor below the scaffolding, now partly blown up. They both landed on their backs. 

“Ugh,” Bucky groaned as he attempted to stand up. 

Sam, already standing, was looking straight ahead. In the middle of the room was a woman covered in pink and black sitting on a chair. Her hips had diamonds on them as well as her gloves and sparkled in the light. Her hair was pink as well, and short. She had her arms by her side and her head tilted back, so really only her neck was visible. Bucky looked at Sam; he looked back. This didn’t look good. They slowly stepped towards the woman, assuming that she was asleep in a strange position. They stopped. Bucky’s feet were an inch or two away from hers. They waited. Until, Sam became impatient and shot the wall in front of him, not hitting anyone, but making a huge noise in the silence that they were in. Then, the woman slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes. They were blue. She glared at Bucky. 

“You’re not Steve.” 

She punched him in the face. Bucky fell backwards and was knocked unconscious to his side. Sam watched Bucky fall and glared back at the woman. The woman slowly stood up and Sam punched her. She barely moved. Sam activated the wings on his suit, now with shields included on his arms for defense. He kept fighting her, pushing her away from the chair and away from Bucky to the back of the room. The woman tried to dodge every attack, but she kept getting closer and closer to the wall until Sam pinned her. He put his hand around her throat, choking her. 

“And who the hell are you?” Sam snapped at her. 

“I’m… Ra… Rachel… Leighton…” the woman whimpered. 

Sam let go of his tight grip around her neck. 

“...Diamondback,” she smirked. 

She slipped down below Sam’s view and in confusion, he quickly spun around. Diamondback was standing behind him and she jokingly waved to him. She reached down to pull a large diamond off of her fully pink-colored suit and jammed it into his neck. Sam yelled in pain as Diamondback completed a perfect backflip, her long pink hair barely brushing the ground. She landed in between two men in black with large guns. She hesitated as Sam pulled out the diamond from the left side of his neck, now covered in blood. Blood was now also dripping down his neck towards his right shoulder. He placed his hand firmly over the wound. 

“What do you want?” Sam interrogated. 

“Well, that’s simple. I want exactly what you want,” she paused, “Steve.” 

Suddenly, one gunman fell to the ground, unconscious, and so did the other. Bucky, now fully conscious, kicked Diamondback strongly, and she fell to the ground as well. Bucky panted heavily. He stared at the woman, now dramatically lying on the ground with one of her arms pointed towards Sam. 

“You know this crazy lady?” Sam wondered. 

“Yeah. I do,” Bucky said. 

Later, Bucky was walking into Sam’s house, Sam following him. Bucky grabbed a large map lying on the top of the refrigerator in the kitchen. He then continued to the table cornered next to a window, diagonal to the kitchen but not far. He unrolled it, and held it open with his regular arm and his metal arm. Sam sat down in front of Bucky. 

“You don’t know the full story, do you,” Bucky asked seriously, “about Steve and I.” 

“I know it, but barely,” Sam answered. 

Bucky sighed. He took a red marker from the middle of the table in a cup and then searched the map for specific locations. He marked six with large dots. They were all located away from the United States. 

“These are the six Hydra bases that we took over. We, being Steve, me, and the Howling Commandos. But in one of the bases, uh- this one,” Bucky circled one of the dots, “Berlin. It wasn’t just a hydra base. It was being guarded by a society. The Serpent Society.”

[ 𝕗𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 ] 

Steve and Bucky were fighting a group of people all dressed differently, but all working together, against them. There was no way to tell who their leader was or where they came from. All they knew was that there was a room filled with what looked like a million supervillains. 

Bucky continued in voiceover, “They were impossible to defeat. They each had different names, and they each had a different purpose for being there. But, so did we.”

As they fought, a familiar face approached Steve. It was Diamondback. 

“Diamondback was part of their society. But while she fought Steve, she hesitated with every move. She fell in love with him.”

Diamondback and Steve fought each other, but she settled her moves one by one as if she didn’t want him to get hurt. Steve trapped her in a headlock and they stared at each other. 

“You’re going to have to do better than that if you want me to die,” Steve joked. 

Diamondback gazed into his eyes, blue with a hint of green, and smirked. Bucky kicked one of the villains back into a wall, and knocked him out. He then looked over at Steve, still looking at Diamondback. Bucky slowly lifted his gun. Steve saw Bucky, and then knocked Diamondback out. 

“You were holding back your punches,” Bucky sighed. 

“I know,” Steve admitted. 

[𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥]

Bucky was still talking to Sam, with both his hands planted on the map. 

“She ended up helping us with some missions, as we were finishing them. She was powerful. But the only reason why she was there with us was because of Steve. She loved him,” Bucky sat down in a chair in front of Sam and sighed. 

“She wasn’t on the plane with you, was she? When it went down…” Sam pondered. 

“No. No, she wasn’t. She disappeared after we took the last base. I was with Steve, but he couldn’t find her anywhere.” 

“And now, she wants him. But we don’t know why.” 

Bucky sighed and looked down. 

“Wait. When we walked into the base earlier today, the door was unlocked. Maybe she wanted us to find her?” Sam guessed.    
  


“Yes. But, where would Steve be, at this point? And why would she want him? I don’t even know…” Bucky trailed off. 

Later that day, Sam opened a door to a coffee shop with a logo reading,  _ The Roasted Bean _ . Bucky was in front of him, walking towards a counter. They both ordered their coffees and sat down at a table away from all of the other customers. They disguised themselves, Bucky wearing a gray baseball cap and Sam wearing sunglasses. 

“So. Where do we start?” Sam began. 

“I’m not sure,” Bucky faltered. 

“Well, you and Steve went down with the plane. So shouldn’t we start there?” 

“That’s the point though. SHIELD found me, but they never found Steve. I don’t even know if he’s still at the crash site. I don’t know where the crash site is. 

“The plane, sort of, blew up in mid air before reaching the ground, and that’s how we were separated. I lost my arm, and SHIELD gave me this,” Bucky lifted his arm, covered, but revealing his metal hand peeking through his sweatshirt. 

Sam contemplated and took a sip of his coffee, as did Bucky. 

“Should we go to Shield about this? I mean- we wouldn’t want Hydra to find him first,” Sam noted. 

“No. No we wouldn’t,” a familiar voice answered. 

Bucky and Sam looked up to see Nick Fury standing before them. 

“I’m surprised you didn’t go to us in the first place. You really think you can do all of this by yourselves?” Nick said, disappointed. 

Bucky sighed and sipped his coffee. Sam looked shocked, turning his head side to side. 

“I’m sorry, who is this?” 

Moments later, Nick Fury was walking into his office with a file. Bucky and Sam were sitting in two chairs, one empty chair in front of them. 

“Nick Fury. Head of Shield, enemy to Hydra. You’re safe here,” Fury told Sam. 

“What should we call you?” Sam asked. 

“Fury. Nothing else. Only Fury.” 

“Fair enough,” Sam looked around the office. 

“What’s that?” Bucky pointed to the file that Fury was holding. 

“It’s everything we have on Steve Rogers. Old, and new.” 

Fury slid the file on the table in front of them, and sat down in the remaining chair. Bucky quickly grabbed it and opened it and Sam looked over to glance at it. 

“You said ‘new’? What does that mean?” Sam questioned. 

As Bucky opened the file, there was an old photo of pre-serum Steve on the training field, as well as a post-serum photo of Steve, Bucky, and the Howling Commandos. Behind the photos were Steve’s enlistment forms, all different. Bucky smiled to himself as he looked through the documents and old photos. 

“The last time I checked, Steve went down in the ice just like me. Yet, you guys didn’t take him with me,” Bucky said with slight anger. 

“Don’t get riled up, now. We knew Steve went down with you, and we would be damn stupid if we didn’t. We looked for Steve, and we looked everywhere. When I say everywhere, we practically dug up the whole place searching for him. I’m guessing that someone else got to him before us,” Fury explained. 

“All this trouble just to get your friend back,” Sam shook his head. 

“I can’t lose him,” Bucky pleaded as his voice broke. 

Suddenly, an alarm blasted. A voice came in through a transceiver on Fury’s belt. He took it off and held it to his mouth. 

“Director Fury? Come in! We have a 10-40 here in the facility… everyone’s going crazy. We need help down here.” 

“Copy that. I’ll be right down,” Fury answered. 

“What’s happening?” Sam jolted up from his seat. 

“There’s been an attack. Here,” Fury walked over to his computer and pulled up a security camera of his officers fighting a familiar villain, Diamondback. 

“She’s here. Of course she’s here,” Sam grumbled with a sigh. 

“She probably knows where Steve is. I have to go to her,” Bucky stood up confidently. 

“You two go down and help,” Fury insisted, “I’m taking the back way.” 

“Copy that,” Sam nodded. 

Bucky and Sam ran over to the door and joined the line of Shield officers running towards the front of the building. There, by the giant two glass front doors, was a crowd of officers fighting and punching at Diamondback. Bucky and Sam stood behind the crowd, waiting for a chance to join, but not seeing it anytime soon. Diamondback knocked out Shield officers by doing flips, kicking, and other advanced gymnastics moves. She was incredibly skilled. Suddenly, with a large kick to the stomach, three shield officers fell to the ground, leaving a gap in the crowd. Bucky and Sam could now be seen. Diamondback threw a diamond at Bucky like a flying disk, but Bucky caught it in midair with his metal arm just before it grazed the side of his face. Just before it made a scar from a previous fight worse. 

“Where. Is. He?” Bucky stressed each word. 

“I should be asking you the same question,” she teased. 

Bucky threw the diamond on the floor in frustration. 

“He’d want me more than you two. I’m going to be the one to find him first. He loves me,” Diamondback bragged. 

“He loves me too,” Bucky said with a determined tone. 

“We both want the same thing. Why aren’t we working together?” Sam suggested. 

“I work alone, and alone only. When I get Steve back, it will be me and him. Forever,” Diamondback ensured. 

Sam raised his eyebrows and scratched his head. Diamondback disappeared with a puff of pink smoke as officers coughed and waved their hands in front of their faces. Bucky sighed and walked off, not waiting for Sam. Back at Sam’s house, a radio was playing “It’s Been A Long, Long Time” on a nightstand by a bed. To the left of the bed was a bathroom. The door was open, and Bucky was looking into a mirror at his reflection. The lights shone into his blue eyes, full of desperation. He wore a white tank and black sweatpants. He sighed and took a washcloth lying on the rim of the sink in front of him and ran it under the faucet. Turning his head, he dabbed his scar with the washcloth and wrung it out into the sink. He shifted his weight towards the sink, leaning on it with his hands and looking down. He looked up at himself one final time and then switched off the light. There were a few seconds of blackout, until the light switched back on again. Sam stood in the doorway. 

“Come here. I have a theory.” 

Bucky gloomily followed Sam into the kitchen, the same table that they were at before. Bucky was full of doubt, but he decided to listen to Sam’s words anyway. They both sat down. 

  
“It’s a theory, well, not really a theory. Just a thought. What if Diamondback has had Steve all along? She might be lying to us,” Sam said. 

“I don’t know, Sam. I don’t know anything at this point. It seems like she’s solo, so if Hydra has Steve then she probably doesn’t know about it,” Bucky said with a sigh of doubt. 

“You really miss him, huh,” Sam sighed sadly into his chair. 

“I guess I’m just looking in all the wrong places. Or, I just don’t know where to start looking,” Bucky chuckled softly. 

Later, two men in a familiar black uniform and black masks were dragging Diamondback into a dark room with little light and no furniture. On their sleeves was the Hydra logo, which Diamondback spotted as she tried to fight and break free from the men’s grips on her arms. 

“Where are you taking me- let GO!” Diamondback shouted. 

“Or else what? Shut up and stay put,” one of the men scolded her as both of the officers threw her into a corner of the room. 

Diamondback’s head was thrown back and she slowly lifted it and glared at the officers. She didn’t make a sound. The officers looked at each other. 

“Call him,” one of them told the other. 

The officer walked backwards away from Diamondback, out of sight, and the other stayed put and kept a close eye on Diamondback. She didn’t move, because she knew she wouldn’t make it out. Suddenly, buttons started flickering and lighting up as a large lever was pushed up. A loud, but familiar German voice started speaking. 

“Leighton, Rachel. Born 1920. And you are still here. I wonder how…” the voice trailed off. 

“How- how do you know who I am?” Diamondback stuttered. 

“I know everyone, frauline. You, Steven Grant Rogers…” 

“Steve. You know Steve. Where is he?!” Diamondback urged. 

“Ah ah ah- not quite yet. That is not why I have summoned you here,” the voice calmed her. 

“Who are you?” 

“I am Arnim Zola. I was a scientist who worked for Red Skull, leader of Hydra.”

“You. No, let me go!” 

“Not quite yet. I have not told you your purpose for being here, frauline. You will stay put until I tell you you may leave. And if you don’t listen,” the two Hydra men aimed their guns at Diamondback, “there will be consequences.” 

“What,” Diamondback sarcastically asked. 

“Hydra was meant to dominate the world, to become the greatest organization on the planet, but then there was SHIELD. You work alone, yes? Well, frauline, what if there was a way we could both get what we want?” the voice paused, “You would get your man, and I would get all of the power in the world!” 

“I worked for Hydra once, and I’m not doing it again. The last time I worked for Hydra, I- I fell in love. And I was  _ beaten  _ for it. I’m done with people telling me what’s wrong and what’s right. Do you not understand? They made me leave him. They left me with no other choice, and he DIED,” Diamondback was breathing heavily, “I’m done with people making decisions for me. Why would I ever accept an offer from you?” 

“He never died, frauline. He is very much  _ alive _ .” 

“What do you mean, ‘alive’?”

“SHIELD knew that we had found a crashed plane with two passengers aboard it. They were assumed dead, until we found Steven Rogers frozen. Frozen in ice. We never found his friend, James Buchanan Barnes, nor do I know where he is now, but that is not the point. We were going to freeze Steven again, hoping for his demise. Until, I discovered that freezing him could make him the new face of Hydra. A perfect soldier. With his strength, Hydra will finally get the power that it deserves.”

“And how would you do that?” 

“A simple procedure. But we need your help, frauline. No one should be a nuisance if we are to be successful. Which is why Hydra needs you to fight.” 

Diamondback hesitated and thought, and then answered, “I know someone. He wants Steve as well. What do you want me to do with him?” 

The voice hesitated, but did not wonder. 

“Kill him,” Zola then addressed the officers, “Let her go. Thank you for your service, frauline. Do not let Hydra down.” 

“Oh, I won’t. You can believe that,” Diamondback answered with an emotionless face. 

The two men slowly lowered their guns, as the woman was now not afraid for her life. They stared at her for a moment. One of the men then quickly took a large black cover from behind and shoved it over her head. They both escorted her out of the dark room. Later that day, Bucky was back at Sam’s house sitting at his table drinking coffee out of a familiar white mug. He looked droopy, as if he didn’t receive much sleep. 

“You ok?” Sam called from the kitchen, which was across from Bucky’s viewpoint. 

Bucky took a deep breath, “yup.” 

It was morning, so Sam was cooking two fried eggs on a pan, flipping them to seem skillful. 

“Want anything?” 

“No,” Bucky sighed once more. 

“I’m not taking no for an answer. You have to eat,” Sam insisted. 

Suddenly, the front door flew open right behind Sam. Bucky shot up from his seat and ran over to where Sam was standing to get a closer look. Diamondback was standing in front of them, out of breath. 

“I need your help,” she surprisingly pleaded. 

Smoothly, Sam kept his eyes on Diamondback as he slowly lifted the pan cooking the fried eggs and slid them onto a plate to the side of the stovetop. He turned off the burner and grabbed the pan with both of his hands, holding it like a weapon. Diamondback put both of her hands up and slowly stepped forward into Sam’s house. 

“No, uh uh I did NOT invite you into my home. Step out, no, OUT. Not until I trust you,” Sam forced her to step back. 

Diamondback was back where she stood before, with her hands still up into the air. 

“What do you want from us?” Bucky calmly questioned her. 

“Enough with the fighting. Enough with everything. I know where Steve is and I know what Hydra is going to do to him.” 

“Hydra has him? But- how? How do you know that?” Bucky put his hand in front of Sam to calm him down. 

“I can explain everything. I just need you guys to trust me.” 

“No. Not after what you’ve put us through,” Sam criticized. 

Diamondback held up a rather large diamond with black buttons on it, “This is a tape recorder. This diamond I’ve disguised. I was captured by Hydra’s officers. I can prove everything. They wanted me to kill both of you. Mainly you, Bucky.”

“Then why don’t you kill us?” Bucky interrogated. 

“They’re going to turn Steve into a weapon and wipe his whole memory. SHIELD gave you a similar serum to what Dr. Erskine gave Steve, but they didn’t wipe your memory. What Hydra is doing to Steve, he won’t remember anything and worse- they can make him do whatever they want. We all want Steve back, so why don’t we do it together?” 

“Why aren’t all villains like this?” Sam sighed. 

“She’s not a villain- not anymore,” Bucky concluded. 

Sam lowered the pan he was holding and placed it back on the stovetop. He motioned for Diamondback to enter his house. Moments later, the tape recorder diamond was lying on the table and Diamondback, Bucky, and Sam were sitting down around it, listening. Two quiet voices were speaking.

“Boss, boss come in. Where should we take her?” 

“Take her to the coordinates I have sent you,” Arnim Zola’s voice was familiar to Bucky and Diamondback. 

“38.93, -77.05... ok. We’re on our way,” a man stated as Bucky started to write something down. 

Diamondback turned off the recording. 

“That’s where they took me. Throughout this whole thing I was unconscious. They put something over my head so I couldn’t see, but I know that that’s where their base is,” Diamondback explained. 

“Sam?” Bucky waited. 

“It leads to the middle of the woods. It’ll be hard to find,” Sam found on his technical watch. 

“We’ll find it. We have to leave as soon as possible before it’s too late,” Bucky warned, “We have to leave now.” 

“Let’s go, then,” Diamondback agreed. 

Moments later **,** a familiar black van was driving through trees and then came to a stop. Inside the car, Diamondback was in the backseat leaning forward with her elbow on Bucky’s seat, who was next to Sam, who was driving. 

“Why’d you stop?” Diamondback asked. 

“We can’t pull up to the base in this car. It’s not that easy. These kinds of places have shooters outside of the base too. We have to avoid them,” Sam answered. 

The three stepped out of the car and looked out to the numerous trees. 

“It shouldn’t be much farther,” Sam noted. 

Bucky and Diamondback followed Sam. 

Diamondback turned to Bucky, “So. While there’s time, why in the world do  _ you  _ want Steve?” 

Bucky looked confused, “You don’t know anything?”

Diamondback didn’t answer, but contemplated Bucky’s response. 

“We’ve been best friends for as long as I can remember. I- I can’t lose him. Even though it's seemed like an eternity without him, I haven’t realized how much I’ve missed him until- now. I guess an opportunity came up, so that’s what I’m fighting for.” 

“I had no idea he was close to you,” Diamondback sighed. 

“Well, we weren’t exactly looking for trouble when we found you.”

Sam turned back to Diamondback and Bucky, “the coordinates lead here. Now’s the fun part. Buck? You want to take care of this?” 

“I’ve got ‘em,” Bucky said confidently. 

Sam and Diamondback disappeared to hide so they weren’t seen by the shooters standing outside of a large black and red building, hidden by trees. Bucky counted about 10 shooters, and then pointed his gun. Focusing on the shooters, he pulled the trigger and one fell to the ground with a crash. Two men to the left and right of him looked around their area for a shooter, but there was no one there. But behind a tree a few feet in front of the two men, Bucky reloaded his gun. He hesitated and then jumped out from behind the tree. Three shots, both men fell to the ground. Bucky ran to the other sides of the base and spotted three men scanning the ground from above. The men that Bucky had shot were out of their sight, so they didn’t suspect anything was wrong. Bucky’s gun was not as loud as others, so they wouldn’t have heard that either. Bucky found a tree he could hide behind. He peeked out to the right and aimed his gun at one of the men. The man turned his head to the left, and then fell. With two more shots, the two other men fell. Bucky kept running. There was one more side, again with three men who understood that there was commotion, but did not suspect anything was wrong. 

“I’m gonna walk around the-” 

The soldier started, but was then shot. He fell. Two more shots, and the other two fell to the ground. Sam appeared walking with Diamondback towards Bucky, who reloaded his gun and held it carefully. 

“Nice work. Let’s go in,” Sam said. 

Sam kicked down the door to reveal two flights of stairs facing each other, leading to a slightly visible hallway to the right. They started to walk down step by step. Bucky was aiming his gun, Sam keeping everything quiet, and Diamondback reaching for her diamonds layered in poison. They were all ready for the worst. As they reached the bottom of the staircase, Sam was the first to look behind the corner to the right, Bucky and Diamondback following. There was a crowd of Hydra soldiers standing there, as if they knew the three were coming. One Hydra agent was standing directly in front of what looked like fifty others, leading everyone. He hesitated before he ordered an attack. 

“Cut off one head, two more shall take its place. You underestimate us. FIRE,” the agent yelled. 

Blasts were fired, bullets shot, and even grenades thrown. Bucky, Sam, and Diamondback seemed to be able to control themselves easily. Bucky was keeping agents away from him by shooting from afar. Sam was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, as was Diamondback, but she was using diamonds covered in poison as weapons. Bucky and Diamondback were determined for one specific reason; Steve. Bucky couldn’t let Hydra turn him into a weapon. He didn’t want Steve to forget who he was and what he stood for. He didn’t want Steve to forget his best friend. 

Diamondback wanted Steve back, but she wanted Steve for herself. She didn’t tell this to Bucky, obviously, but she wanted Bucky and Sam to lead her to where Steve was being kept to prove how much Steve loved her. She kept her act hidden. As they fought, the room started to clear and Diamondback spotted a familiar door beyond the Hydra agents that remained. Diamondback saw that the hall continued to the left of the door. 

“Bucky! They kept me there, inside that door. Steve must be farther to the left! Down that hallway,” she shouted as Bucky tried his best to follow along and fight Hydra agents. 

“Sam, aim for the left hall over there,” Bucky pointed to Sam, who nodded. 

As the last three Hydra agents fell, Bucky, Sam, and Diamondback suspected more up ahead. Bucky waited for Sam to lead the way, but he gestured for Bucky to go first. Bucky slightly smiled and Diamondback watched quietly as he walked towards the hallway. There were no Hydra agents. At the end of the narrow hall, there was a door with no handle and a keypad to the right of it. 

“He’s in there. I know it,” Bucky turned to Sam. 

“Then how do we open it?” Diamondback urged. 

“I’ve got it,” Sam lifted his sleeve to reveal his technical watch. 

Sam pressed the watch against the keypad, and unexpectedly, an alarm started blaring. The wall on the other end of the narrow hall started to move closer to the door. A trap. 

“They knew we were coming. How much longer, Sam?” Bucky braced himself. 

The four slots on the keypad started changing rapidly, trying every code imaginable until the correct passcode was revealed. The wall was moving faster; it was getting closer and closer. Bucky and Diamondback started backing up as much as they could. Suddenly, there was a ding. Sam had found the code,  _ 8539 _ . The door flew open, and the wall started moving back in the opposite direction. 

“Done,” Sam joked. 

Bucky ignored him and slowly walked into the room that the door was blocking. Diamondback stared at Bucky, and Sam glanced over the room. It seemed technical and difficult to understand in Bucky’s opinion, but that didn’t matter. Step by step he walked forward to the back of the room. There, tied down to a slanted platform, was Steve Rogers. Bucky stopped and stared as his heart skipped a beat. He was shirtless, with his head turned to the left. His eyes were closed, but Bucky couldn’t tell if he was breathing. He had wires attached to his chest and his head. Bucky dropped the gun that he was no longer gripping and ran over to Steve. Hesitating, he placed his hand on Steve’s right shoulder, not knowing if there would be a response. He moved from Steve’s shoulder and down to his hand. He linked his hand with Steve’s and gently squeezed it. 

“Steve,” Bucky whispered. 

Steve didn’t move. Bucky closed his eyes tightly and lowered his head. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back. It was Sam. Diamondback was close behind him, still staring at Steve. Bucky sighed and let go of Steve’s hand. He stepped back as Sam reached his hand towards Steve’s neck. He held out two fingers to check his pulse. He looked surprised. 

“What? What is it?” Bucky worried. 

“He’s- he’s alive,” Sam sighed with relief. 

“Of course he’s alive. Hydra needs him alive,” Diamondback reminded them. 

She started to walk towards Steve. She hesitated as she reached her hands out to touch Steve’s face. Suddenly, a bullet fired from the back of the room meeting the wall, just passing the four of them. Diamondback, Sam, and Bucky turned around to find a Hydra agent holding Bucky’s gun, standing in front of seven other agents. These agents were different from the others. They had better weapons and better combat skills. Bucky turned around and followed the wires connected to Steve with his eyes. They led to a large technical desk with buttons, switches, and a large screen on the wall. He turned back to the agents. 

“Out of the way,” the main Hydra agent aimed Bucky’s gun. 

“You want Steve? You’re going to have to go through us first,” Sam threatened. 

There was a moment of silence, and then the Hydra agents started shooting. As the bullets came from all directions, Bucky looked around the room for something to protect Steve. 

“Don’t bother. They can’t hurt him or else they won’t get what they want,” Diamondback assured him. 

Bucky nodded and took a look at Steve before he ran to keep the Hydra agents from starting the procedure. Sam was fighting two agents already, and two more ran over to Bucky. Diamondback was still by Steve, and she touched his cheek with her hand. She looked behind and saw two agents running towards her. She left Steve and started throwing diamonds. One missed, but the other hit an agent. He screamed in pain and the other agent started fighting Diamondback with his hands. She kicked him in the stomach and blocked his punches. She found an opening and punched his face. He fell to the ground. Looking around, Diamondback saw Bucky and Sam each fighting one agent. The main agent, Diamondback spotted, was making his way towards the large screen on the left wall. She gasped and ran over to the agent. As Sam knocked his agent unconscious, the agent reached over to flip a switch. Sam barely stopped his hand from reaching the handle and tightly pushed the agents arm behind his back, hurting his shoulder blades. 

“How does that feel, huh?” Sam provoked. 

Bucky was fighting an agent across the room. He managed to push the agent to the ground. He grabbed a gun left on the ground and shot the agent’s chest. He fell. Just as he shot, Bucky saw Sam held up by the main Hydra agent. Bucky started to come over, just as Sam was kicked in the stomach. Hard. He flew to the back wall and fell. Bucky started running and used his metal arm to aim for the agent’s shoulders. With a punch, the agent slightly collapsed. 

“You’ll have to do better than that,” the agent rolled his shoulder back. 

Bucky was ready to throw another punch, just as Diamondback kicked the agent’s back and jammed a diamond into his shoulder. The agent began to fall backward, but barely reached his hand up to push a red button on the desk. He fell unconscious. Bucky looked defeated and shocked. An alarm started blaring. He turned to Steve, who was shaking uncontrollably, his face now visible. Bucky looked towards the large screen on the wall. It was now on. The screen showed a clock that was counting down. Bucky started staring at the buttons, not knowing what to do. Diamondback started panicking. She ran over to Steve and grabbed a wire connected to his chest. She was going to pull it out until Bucky stopped her. 

“No! Don’t touch him,” he yelled. 

“He could die!”    
  


“He won’t!”

Bucky stopped and looked around at the buttons and switches one last time. The timer was going down fast. Diamondback walked back over to Bucky. Suddenly, he realized something. He moved over to the switches. He flipped the second one up and the fourth one down. Then, he moved back over to the button that the agent pressed. Bucky pushed it. Steve stopped shaking and the alarm stopped blaring. Bucky hesitated before he ran over to Steve. He pulled out the wires connected to his chest and his head. He placed his right arm under Steve’s knees and his left behind his back to carry him down to the floor. Bucky sat down next to him and leaned over to put his hands on Steve’s shoulders. His eyes were still closed, and he was barely breathing. A tear rolled down Bucky’s face as he stared at him. 

“Steve… stay with me,” Bucky mumbled, “not now… come on, wake up…”

Steve didn’t move a muscle, but Bucky could hear him breathing. 

“I can’t lose you, Steve.” 

Bucky hung his head. Then, Steve gently opened his eyes. He realized that Bucky was sitting with him and smiled. Bucky didn’t recognize that Steve was awake, so Steve reached for his hand. But before Steve could take it, there was a gunshot. 

Steve shot up and looked towards the noise. Diamondback was standing there with a gun, the bullet hitting Bucky’s back. He fell backwards and Diamondback ran to Steve. She fell to her knees and cupped Steve’s face in her hands. She looked into his bright blue-green eyes and sighed. She smiled and leaned in to kiss him. Steve pushed her back and stood up. 

“Rachel? What- How- What did you do?” Steve glared at Diamondback in confusion. 

“I- I thought you-” 

“What? You shot him! How are you even alive? I thought you were dead?!” 

“Steve, please, let’s talk about this… let’s go home…” she stood up. 

“No! Go away. You could have killed him. I-” Steve paused, “What we had, it’s long gone. It was toxic and… I can’t trust you anymore… especially if you hurt someone that I care about.” 

“It sounds like you care about him more than you care about me.” 

“Well, maybe I do.” 

Diamondback stared at him as a tear ran down her face. 

“Go away, Rachel. And I don’t want to see you again,” Steve said calmly. 

Diamondback hesitated, “Please, Steve. I miss you… I- I love you.” 

“Go.” 

Steve stood there and waited for Diamondback to make a move. She hesitated, but then obeyed. She walked out of the room and shut the door. Steve sighed and looked down. He saw Bucky laying flat on the ground, unconscious. He moved his body so he was sitting up against the side of a desk, and Steve knelt down in front of him. 

Steve studied Bucky- long hair, metal arm; he looked different. But, Steve knew that it was the same person that went down with him in the ice all those years ago. How could he forget? Steve felt something in his pocket and reached to pull it out. It was a small compass; he opened it. It looked normal, except inside there was a photo of Bucky from the 40’s wearing a familiar soldier’s hat. Steve cherished the compass; he closed it and held it tightly with both of his hands. He closed his eyes. Moments passed, and he didn’t expect any response from Bucky. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Steve opened his tear-filled eyes and saw Bucky -- alive and awake. They stared at each other and smiled. Speechless, they hugged each other tightly, and for a while. It had been years, and they were reunited at last. Finally pulling away, Steve sighed. 

“Hi, Buck.” 

“Hi,” Bucky smiled, “What happened? Where’s Diamondback?” 

“She’s gone. I wouldn’t let her hurt you just to be with me, and I knew that if you were in her shoes, you would have never done that. You wouldn’t have shot her. Yet, she did.” 

With another smile, Bucky sighed, “I’m just glad you’re alive.” 

“Look at your arm! And your hair!” Steve laughed. 

Bucky chuckled, “Yeah, and there’s that.” 

They both laughed. From across the room, Sam sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He carefully stood up and saw Steve and Bucky. The two looked back at Sam. 

“Who’s this?” Steve asked. 

[𝕒 𝕗𝕖𝕨 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣]

It had been a few years since Steve was saved. Captain America was back with the Avengers and the whole world was talking about it. Steve was still catching up on the technological side of the world, but he had Bucky and Sam to help him with that. Back at Sam’s house, eggs were cooking on the stove and music was playing from a record player. 

“Smells good over there,” Steve walked into the kitchen to find Sam cooking. 

Steve was already suited up, wearing his stealth suit and his shield on his back being held up by two straps. He was holding a file filled with papers. He placed it on the table. 

“Well, you know me,” Sam answered. 

“Where’s the bacon?” an unfamiliar female voice came from the hallway. 

As the figure became more visible, it was a recognisable Natasha Romanoff wearing her classic black suit with a red hourglass symbol at the waistline. 

“It’s Sunday. No bacon on Sundays,” Sam joked. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” Natasha smirked. 

“Good morning to you too,” Bucky entered, also suited up. 

Sam was the odd one out, since he didn’t have his suit on. 

“Sam, where’s your suit?” Steve raised his eyebrows. 

“I got up to make breakfast… well, ok fine. It’s ready, anyway. I won’t be long.” 

Sam left to change. Nat, Steve, and Bucky ate fast and walked outside to wait for Sam. 

“What’s he doing in there, putting on makeup?” Natasha joked impatiently. 

“I’m telling you, it’s everyday with him,” Bucky laughed. 

“Almost a year and I’m already used to it,” Steve smiled. 

Sam finally walked out, suited up and ready to go. 

“Alright, alright. Let’s go.” 

[ 𝕗𝕚𝕟 ]

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks for clicking on our story, and we hope you liked it! This Stucky AU is our first work for one of our favorite ships. We're so excited to be able to have shared this story with over a hundred people, and we can't wait to grow and reach new readers. We'd really appreciate if you would comment, leave a kudos, bookmark, share, check out our profile, subscribe, etc. It helps us get some feedback on our work and engage with more people. We'd definitely love to get to know other AO3 readers and writers and interact with this community as much as we can. Thanks!


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